Shares of GSI Commerce (GSIC-0.1%) pull back a day after eBay's (EBAY+2.3%) announced $2.4B purchase, but Needham's Mark May urges holders not to sell. While there’s little risk the deal doesn’t get done, there's the prospect of a higher bid - even if the probability is less than 50%. He also notes 10M GSIC shares sold short, "which should create upward price pressure.”

eBay's deal (EBAY-4.3%) to acquire GSI Commerce (GSIC+50.7%), with its back-end services and internet shopping operations for more than 100 retailers, is a bid to bring its legions of sellers more closely into the fold and offer them an expanding menu of services - and a challenge to Amazon (AMZN). "This is a big hole strategically that eBay is trying to plug," Stifel Nicolaus says.

eBay (EBAY-2.1%) says it will purchase e-commerce and marketing services provider GSI Commerce (GSIC) for $29.25/share, or $2.4B, in cash, a 51% premium to GSI’s Friday closing price. GSI may solicit acquisition proposals from third parties for a 40-day "go-shop" period continuing through May 6. GSIC shares halted; trading to resume at approx. 10:35. (PR)

Cyber Monday ended a holiday shopping week of record buying volumes for online retailers, who saw sales gains of 20% from a year prior. Despite the claim this is 'the end of the store as we know it,' online shopping still makes up only 10% of the overall U.S. retail spending pie.

GSI Commerce (GSIC) is -4.8% to $22.00, after recently reporting a wider-than-expected Q3 loss, caused by high operating expenses. It expects full year revenue of $1.35B, which is in-line with analyst estimates. (PR)

We are a leading provider of e-commerce and interactive marketing services to large businesses that sell products directly to consumers (b2c). We operate in three business segments — e-commerce services, interactive marketing services and consumer engagement. Within these segments, we provide...More